Hot Docs Archives (7 posts)
The English Surgeon (2007)
Two people passed out during the screening of The English Surgeon (2007) on Wednesday night at the Bloor theatre. This was one of the goriest films at Hot Docs this year.
Henry Marsh is a leading neurosurgeon from London with a great sense of humour. He has a love for the Ukraine and often travels to Kiev to help his Ukrainian colleague, Igor. Henry tries to make a difference and save lives where he can even though his colleagues in London think he’s wasting his time.
Many patients in the Ukraine are misdiagnosed and die as a result. Quite often, Henry has to tell a child or a young woman that they will die and there is nothing he can do. He also brings hope to Kiev when he is able to perform risky neurosurgery and save a life.
A surgery like this is performed in the film with incredible visual and audio clarity. A young man with an inoperable brain tumor goes under Henry’s knife to have the tumour removed. The necessary anesthetic isn’t available so Henry performs the surgery while the patient is awake.
To say the least this scene is incredible graphic and difficult to watch. At one point Henry is making jokes about the Bosch cordless drill being used to remove a part of the patient’s skull. Minutes later their are some tense moments when the patient stops responding.
You’ll find this film to be funny, terrifying and heart-warming if you can get through it. One of my favourites from this years festival. 
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Posted in Hot Docs at 12:57 AM | Comments (0)
Carny (2008)
Director Alison Murray saw some incredible photographs of carnival workers that inspired her to make the film Carny. She follows the lives of several carnies and reveals a world of lonlieness, poverty and addictions.
Your typical carny is at the end of their rope and running away from something — an abusive relationship, a spouse, usually the law. Many of them are covered in tattoos, missing a lot of teeth and drink a little too much. So how could a film with so much potential be so boring?
The problem is that nothing really happens in Carny. A great subject doesn’t guarantee a great film. Murray introduces us to a cotton candy lesbian, a bitter clown, and a man that lives with two women. They’re all unique characters but their stories lack drama. In my opinion, the film never takes off.
We get a slice of the carny life but it’s dull and uneventful. Two of the people that I watched the film with left halfway through. I stayed until the end but Carny just didn’t do it for me. ½
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Posted in Hot Docs at 8:22 PM | Comments (0)
The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams’ Appalachia (2002)
In 2002, Jennifer Baichwal directed a fabulous film about Shelby Lee Adams’ controversial photos of the poor people in the Appalachian Mountains — The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams’ Appalachia.
Adams was born in Kentucky and has spent 30 years documenting and photographing the poor families in the various hollers of Appalachia. He’s become very good friends with some of these families and has completely gained their trust.
Most of us would look at Adams’ photos and describe the people in them as hillbillies or “banjo people”, straight out of the film Deliverance. Is he trying to exploit them or is he merely documenting their way of life?
The subjects in Adams’ photos feel that his work is harmless and a true representation of their culture. As a viewer, you get the sense that Adams truly feels he is documenting the Appalachian way of life. Several art critics featured in the film, feel otherwise. Adams stages some of his photos and uses theatrical lighting to great effect. His work is incredibly beautiful, complex, and more fine art than documentary photography.
He’s exhibited his photos around the world, sold prints and published many books about the Appalachian people He’s become very successful and made a good living by being a photographer. Baichwal doesn’t make any judgments in the film. But at a Q&A after the film, she questioned how people at a Berlin gallery of Adams’ work would read his photographs while sipping champagne and eating smoked salmon. They’re probably going to see the stereotype instead of the friendly people that Adams has gotten to know over the years.
I haven’t mentioned the slaughter of a hog, the practice of snake handling, pipe smoking grannies, inbreeding and the high mortality rate up in the Appalachian hills. For that, you’ll have to watch the film and it’s a good one. ½
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Shelby Lee Adams website: shelby-lee-adams.blogspot.com
CBC News interview of Shelby Lee Adams
Mercury Films
Posted in Hot Docs at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)
Behind the Glass (2008)
I wasn’t aware that Behind the Glass was screening with Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D but I’m glad it did. Director Gabriel Rhodes created a fantastic little film about a dying breed — the film projectionist.
Gabriel Rhodes does an excellent job of introducing several projectionists from around the US with interesting and unique stories to tell. Their jobs are changing as more theatres introduce digital projection. This film captures the end of an era that will be of interest to any cinephile.
Behind the Glass was shot on 16mm film.
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Posted in Hot Docs at 1:44 AM | Comments (0)
Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D (2008)
At first glance, Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D appears to be a film about an artist who has a passion for 3-D photography. Unfortunately this film is more about Hai “Daddy” Tran’s lifelong obsession with photography and its impact on his family.
Tran is an interesting subject for a film. He’s charismatic, passionate about photography and he runs a vintage camera store in an industry that is dominated by digital cameras. He loves to collect things and not just a few — thousands of cameras and lenses, jewelry, lights, lawn ornaments. Every door inside his house has multiple locks. It takes four keys just to get inside his house!
I found Hai Tran to be more a lovable eccentric than a true artist or photographer. I was hoping this film would be a little more along the lines of What Remains (2005) or Manufactured Landscapes (2006). Tran appears to be more of a holiday snapper than a photographer. I guess this is why the film focuses more on his obsessions and character rather than his photography.
Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D is an average documentary film for me. The production value could have been stronger and I found that the same photos were being used repeatedly for different parts of the film.
I might have enjoyed the film a little more if:
- the projectionist didn’t stop the film 3 minutes in because it was being shown in the wrong aspect ratio
- the film didn’t stop 10 minutes later because it was missing the subtitles
- director Siu Ta brought the correct version of the film and checked it before the screening
Siu Ta wanted to cancel the screening and reschedule it for a later date! Thankfully an audience member persuaded her to just show the film. She used a microphone and translated parts of the film while it played.
Watching this film was probably the most unique experience I’ve had at Hot Docs. What made all of these glitches ironic was that it screened with Behind the Glass — a film about projectionists and their importance in the presentation of a film.
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.
Posted in Hot Docs at 12:11 AM | Comments (0)
2008 Hot Docs Picks
Hot Docs starts in a week and I plan to see 13 films this year. Below is a list of my picks with screening dates and times. If you’re attending any of these films then look for me in line and say hello.
- Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D — Friday, April 18 / 9:30 PM
- The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams’ Appalachia — Saturday, April 19 / 11:00 AM
- Murphy’s Law — Monday, April 21 / 11:59 PM
- Carny — Monday, April 21 / 11:59 PM
- 52 Percent — Tuesday, April 22 / 1:30 PM
- 20 Seconds of Joy — Tuesday, April 22 / 1:30 PM
- Man on Wire — Tuesday, April 22 / 6:30 PM
- Wesley Willis’s Joy Rides — Tuesday, April 22 / 11:45 PM
- Dance With A Serial Killer — Wednesday, April 23 / 11:30 AM
- At the Death House Door — Wednesday, April 23 / 7:00 PM
- $4 Haircut — Thursday, April 24 / 7:00 PM
- S&M: Short and Male — Thursday, April 24 / 7:00 PM
- Killer Poet — Thursday, April 24 / 9:45 PM
- The Black List — Friday, April 25 / 12:00 PM
- Standard Operating Procedure — Saturday, April 26 / 9:15 PM
- Planet B-Boy — Saturday, April 26 / 11:59 PM
It may seem like a lot of films but some of these docs aren’t feature length and will be screening with other films. Last year I picked 10 films and only made it out to a couple because of my crazy work schedule. This year isn’t any different but I’m determined to find the time this year.
Posted in Hot Docs at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)
Hot Docs 2008
The 15th Canadian International Film Festival, Hot Docs, runs from April 17-27 this year. I’m hoping that I can attend a few more films than I did last year but my busy work schedule will probably limit the number of films I’ll be seeing.
Here is a list of 10 documentary films that I would like to see at Hot Docs this year:
Planet B-Boy — the globalization of hip-hop culture
Standard Operating Procedure — Errol Morris’ look at Abu Ghraib prison
At the Death House Door — the death penalty
Killer Poet — J.J. Jameson the churchgoer, poet and killer
The Black List — derogatory connotations of the term “black list”
Dance With A Serial Killer — France’s most notorious serial killer
Carny
Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D — 3-D photography
Wesley Willis’s Joy Rides — artist/musician bio
The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams’ Appalachia — photography
I don’t know which screenings I’ll be attending but let me know if you’ve picked any of these films. Maybe I’ll see you in the audience.
Posted in Hot Docs at 12:03 PM | Comments (1)
